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Talls Transform Swansea Skyline

Published on 14-11-2008 by
Skyscrapernews.com

With the Meridian Quay having recently topped out and Aurora now standing complete with residents moving in, part of Swansea's skyline has now been permanently transformed thanks to the Maritime Quarter.

Meridian Quay, formerly Ferrara Quay, is the pride of Swansea's maritime quarter and now the tallest building in Wales by a comfortable margin. It's been designed by Lattitude Architects for developer Earthquake, and features a curving post-modern design dominated by white render and recessed glazing.

Rising to 107 metres, the scheme contains 29 floors with the ground being occupied by retail, and the subsequent levels up to 26 consisting of 123 flats including a penthouse on that takes up the entirety of the 26th level.

The top three floors will be clad in floor to ceiling glazing and accommodate a new 290 seat restaurant that will be highest dining space outside London after the Beetham West Tower in Liverpool.

Standing half a mile east of Meridian Quay on the opposite end of Swansea Marina is Aurora, a rather sharper looking apartment 14 floor block from the pens of Powell Dobson. This eschews the curves of it's taller neighbour for a more angular look, although the aesthetics of white render and recessed glazing are retained.

Coming from developer Charles Church, the scheme is now completed with the first residents moving in and almost all the units within the 76 apartment building sold out.

Taking advantage of the three corners of the triangular floorplates are balconies with the largest dominating the sharp end of the triangle. The penthouses feature particularly large balconies with the duplex unit having one running over 18 metres in length.

In the context of the wider picture, two tall buildings may not sound like much, for a town like Swansea with a population of quarter of a million and only a few tall buildings, it's a very noticeable change for inhabitants.